The final session of news:rewired – beyond the story will look at how elements of computer, video and social gaming could be used by journalists and media organisations. We want to get you thinking about how gaming technologies, storytelling techniques and relationships between games and their players might be incorporated into journalism.
It might not be something you’ve thought about before, but there’s already some pretty interesting research and blog posts being written on the subject, which we’ve rounded up below:
Useful blog posts
- New York Times columnist Nicholas Kristof on video games and digital storytelling – http://adage.com/brightcove/single.php?bcpid=1370868150&bctid=25745419001
- 10,000 Words on scavenger hunts for storytelling – http://10000words.net/2010/10/five-ways-journalists-can-use-qr-codes/
- Using gaming to promote brands – meet Super Twario – http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2010/nov/03/games-social-media
- Hannah Waldram on pervasive gaming – http://hrwaldram.wordpress.com/2010/10/11/social-gaming-journalism-and-letting-go-of-storytelling/#more-928
- Philip Trippenbach‘s presentation from news:rewired in June – http://trippenbach.com/2010/06/25/newsrewired/
- And an Audioboo from Trippenbach:
- Mixed Realities looks at virtual worlds and ‘immersive journalism’ – https://www.mixedrealities.com/2010/10/10/gaming-in-the-cloud-is-great-news-for-immersive-journalism/
- More from memeburn on ‘immersive journalism’ and communicating to readers familiar with digital worlds – http://memeburn.com/2010/09/immersive-journalism-uses-virtual-gaming-platforms-to-tell-stories/
Some interesting examples
- The Online News Association’s QR code game – http://webbmediagroup.com/qrgame.htm
- area/code – amongst other things it creates online games that react to broadcast TV in real-time and turns real world environments into spaces for gaming – http://areacodeinc.com
- Six Days in Fallujah – Philip Trippenbach’s post on the controversial video game that blends documentary with gaming – http://trippenbach.com/2009/04/07/six-days-in-fallujah-konami-game/
- American Public Media’s Budget Hero – http://marketplace.publicradio.org/features/budget_hero/
- The Guardian’s crowdsourced MPs’ expenses app – http://mps-expenses.guardian.co.uk/
- The immersive journalism website – http://www.immersivejournalism.com – “Using virtual reality and 3D environments to convey the sights, sounds and feelings of news.”
Ideas to discuss
- Does gaming lend itself to particular types of journalism or stories?
- What benefits can gaming bring to journalism?
- What kind of audiences will immersive journalism appeal to?
- How can games be used to promote brands as well as telling stories?
Image courtesy of catatronic on Flickr.
Please feel free to share your own links on this topic or line up some questions for our panellists.
